Aboard the Avatar
by VioletSorceress
Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the Avatar, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. DISCONTINUED.
1. In Which The Two Board the Ship

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

* * *

"Ehh, there's nothing so special about this one," the man grumbled, stepping out of the carriage he had previously been riding in and out in full view of the ship. The sunlight gleamed onto the shiny silver-gray exterior of the metal boat, practically blinding the thousands of people gathered around for its maiden voyage. Tall, never-ending pillars mounted their way up into the sky, and the sounds of talking deafened his ears. "It looks just like that other one. . . What was its name? The _Seko_? The _Zeko_?"

"The _Zuko_, I believe it was," the man's fiancée corrected, holding out her hand for him to take. He obliged half-heartedly, the scowl still present on his handsome face. Their linked hands made it easier for the young woman to exit the vehicle. "And besides, you are most definitely mistaken. The _Avatar_ is the ship of dreams. It's over a hundred feet longer than that other ratty old thing. I heard that the _Avatar_ has—"

The man tuned out the chattering of his soon-to-be-wife and stared out into the distance. He could admit that the _Avatar_ was a rather magnificent ride, and that it did look suitable for one of vast wealth. But he couldn't hide the sinking feeling that something bad would happen. . . something horribly wrong. Shaking his head rather roughly to calm himself down, he turned to face the woman next to him and started listening again.

"And not only that, it is virtually unsinkable. The Avatar himself wouldn't be able to sink this ship, even if it was named after him," she laughed heartily at her joke, never once losing her slightly over-confident posture. She looked up at him, her sparkling eyes suddenly dimming. "Hello? Sokka?" she looked up at the sky and sighed, "Kyoshi, you can be so hard to please."

As soon as the words escaped the young woman's lips, another answer echoed through the crowd. "You can say that again!"

The answer came from a girl with a striking resemblance to the man Sokka, from her perfectly tanned skin to her large cerulean eyes. Her chestnut brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid that was flying behind her as she ran, and her blue skirts flared about her well-shaped figure as she ran toward them. A short bald man with blue tattoos trailed after her, while at the same time instructing a porter where to take the luggage.

"Speak of the devil," Sokka's fiancée muttered, tightening her grip on her soon-to-be-husband's arm. Many people, herself included, looked down upon Katara, not counting her brother of course. Katara had basically been disowned after her secret elopement with the Air Nomad Aang, and she had what many people knew as 'new money.' Aang was a rich nobleman who loved to travel the world, something the other rich disliked, taking his wife with him to gamble and earn what they could. The two were extremely wealthy, but viewed by the public as a disgrace.

"Hey, Suki!" she called out as she skidded to a halt in front of the two lovers. Her husband soon mimicked her movements and the two couples both were standing face-to-face.

The fiancée, Suki, kept her composure as she looked from Aang to Katara. "Yes?"

"Yeah, like you were saying. Sokka's never happy with anything he gets. Well, since Mother died anyway," she laughed giddily, wrapping her arm around the bald man's waist. "I just hope you're ready to take on the challenge of being his wife."

Sokka laughed dryly, staring at his sister with a brotherly, playful anger. "Yes, I'm sure she'd love that." His glare told her to quiet down, and he grinned at Suki. "Don't believe what she says. You know Katara, always a kidder!" His voice was heavy with hidden sarcasm, and he smiled. "Let's just go."

Suki glowed seeing that her fiancée was back to his normal self, and looked back to Katara. "I do hope we'll see you on the _Avatar_. It may be hard because it's so crowded. . . ." Her voice trailed off where she meant for the conversation to end.

"Don't worry about it," Aang jumped in cheerfully, unknowing to Suki's distaste for him. "We're in the room next to yours and we'll be at the same table as you for dinner every night." His grin was contagious, and Katara leaned her head on his shoulder with a huge smile on her own face.

"Yes, that's grand," Suki muttered. "Come on, honey." Nodding at his fiancée and her leadership abilities, Sokka followed. His mood was feeling dark and he felt like screaming. Why he always had to follow _her_ lead was beyond his control, yet he had to remain unnerved because of the money problems.

When one looked at him, they would think of him as an idol, a role model, one with the ranking of an Avatar, even. He was, outwardly, everything that a rich leader of the Water Tribe should have been—tough, handsome, poised, and a leader of the people. Inside, though, he was just a man who wanted to be normal, free like his sister and unchained by the duty of his father.

"Stop acting like we're going to your execution," Suki told him playfully. "You're being too. . . Oh, what's the word?"

"Weird?" Katara offered playfully, her hand intertwined with Aang's.

Ignoring her, she snapped her fingers with her free hand. "Dramatic."

"Dramatic?" Sokka asked slowly.

"Yes! We're on the only ship good enough to hold the rich like us, and you're acting like it's a bad thing."

"Well, _sor-ry_," he muttered sardonically, pulling his arm away from her.

Sighing, she corrected herself. "Sorry, I know you don't like it when I mention my family's large and vast"—she caught his glare and hastily continued—"fortune."

"Mmm," Sokka nodded distractedly. Katara gave him a look that reminded him of their father's financial problem before she and Aang rushed up ahead of the two and their argument.

"I don't know why I put up with you!" Suki said loudly.

Realizing his mistake, he looked at her directly in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking about what I would try to buy for you—I mean, for you, it has to be beautiful and expensive."

Lacing her fingers around his arm and snuggling her face into his chest, she sighed in relief. "I love you."

Pretending not to hear so he had no need to answer, they started toward the ship's entrance, both awed by the magnificent beauty of the structure.

--

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" a heavily accented man shouted angrily, banging his hands on the table. "You are so stupid! Betting our tickets like that! The _Avatar'_s going to leave soon and we gambled our stupid tickets!" He had dark black hair and gold eyes that looked to be on fire because of his anger. He was yelling to his gaming parter who had a calm and peaceful look on his face.

"Nephew," he said placidly, "you lost our money earlier. I was simply trying to get it back." He was sitting cross-legged on the wooden bench in the dirty pub, his eyes closed and his hands hidden in his large sleeves.

"Iroh," he started slowly, on the brink of losing control. "_I_ spent the money to buy some extra bags for our luggage. _You_ decided that we should play cards and gamble off our tickets."

"Yes, but—" the white-haired man was interrupted by their opponent.

"Are you two losers done arguing?" a young woman taunted, a large grin splattered across her face. "'Cuz if you are—which you are now—you're gonna deal out the next set." The girl had long black hair pulled back in a very sloppy, and rather unkempt, bun. She was covered in dirt and was decked out in all green. Her large eyes were not only color blind, but damaged beyond normal, and everything she saw tended to be blurred beyond regular eye perception.

The loud whistle of the _Avatar _and its soon departure signaled through the building and a large number of people hustled out. It was almost time for the ship to leave port.

The raven-haired man glared at her and slammed another card on the table. "There. Happy?" When the girl said nothing, he took a risk and looked at his own card. Sweat dotted his forehead as he looked directly into the eyes of the challenger. The girl. Her pale green eyes focused on nothing, betraying nothing. He cursed under his breath.

The swear caused Iroh to open his eyes, and the older man looked at his nephew's cards. His eyes widened with shock before he returned to his calm, meditating position. "Zuko," he said as calmly as he could muster, "I suggest you—"

"Don't tell me what to do!" he snapped. Trying to seem more confident, though he had already lost his posture, he placed another coin on the center of the table, where the tickets and other money sat.

The girl had an evil smile on her face, the cards in her hand teasing the two across from her. "Ready to lose?"

Zuko licked his lips nervously, eying her cards as he shook his head. Voice uneven, he answered, "I should be saying that to you."

Her smile simply grew in length as the sound of the _Avatar's_ whistle echoed once again, the final warning. "The moment of truth then."

Gulping, Zuko placed his cards on the table. Iroh sighed wistfully as he stared uneasily at the girl.

Smacking her cards on the table so hard that it shook, she shouted, "Full house, boys!"

The two men stared disbelievingly at the cards, then at her, then at the cards again. Her head tilted backward as she laughed loudly. Scooping up her winnings, she dumped them in a bag around her waist.

"No! No! No!" Zuko cried out, slamming his hands onto the table and standing up. "I want a rematch!" His eyes were on fire and his hands were balled into fists by his sides.

"It may be a little too late for that, Zuko," Iroh sighed. "The _Avatar_ is going to leave now."

Tears fell from the two men's eyes as the situation suddenly dawned on them. They had just lost in a card game against a near-blind girl. Now they were stuck on the Fire Nation land for another month.

"Never play against Toph Bei Fong," she told them with another loud laugh, making her way toward the door. Her green eyes locked directly with theirs for a moment before she nodded and added, "You're gonna lose."

--

The young girl's ebony-colored hair flew out sloppily behind her as her bare feet padded against the ground. The loud whistle chimed again, most likely for the last time, signaling the ship's departure. She dug her hand around the inside of the bag around her waist, checking for the two tickets she had just won. Grinning when she located them, she sped up in her running. It was getting late and the _Avatar_ was probably going to leave soon if it hadn't already. "Damn," she muttered angrily, shaking her head with annoyance.

Loud shouts echoed through the air as she ran, and she suddenly found herself smack in the middle of a crowd of people. Her face flushed with anger and haste, she pounded forward. Elbows dug into her sides as she used her hands—balled into fists so she could get to the _Avatar_ faster—to plummet through the enormous group of people. Her feet crushed those of others as theirs did the same for her, and she squinted her eyes as though it would help her already impaired vision.

"Last call!" a man's voice rang through the air, and Toph felt her heart speed up at the sound of the call. This was it. If she didn't make it. . .

Her feet pounded against the ground and she gave one last burst of speed and energy. "Wait!" she called out. "I'm a passenger!"

Dodging the luggage of a person near to her, she practically jumped onto the dock. "Wait!" Screeching to a halt, she waved the tickets in front of the man. "See?" she panted, tired from all of her running.

Raising an eyebrow, the man looked at her questioningly. "You've been through the inspection?"

"Of course!" she lied, plastering a grin on her face and tilting her head to the side innocently.

Still not completely convinced, the man sighed. "Yes, very well. Come aboard."

Nodding and smiling at the same time, she clambered onto the ship, the blurred images causing her to stumble.

As soon as she regained her balance, another man came to look at her ticket, or rather, tickets.

"Iroh?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, uhh, yes," she said with an easy smile, for lying was like a second nature to her. "That's my last name."

"Zuko?" he read off of the other ticket, losing the small thread of belief he held that she was boarding legally.

"Umm, yes, well. . . ." she thought quickly. "That's my other last name."

"Right," the man said sarcastically. "You think I'm that stupid?"

"Yes," she muttered under her breath, so quietly hardly anyone could hear.

"What?" he snapped angrily.

"I'm married!" she shouted suddenly, loudly.

Her loud scream silenced a majority of the people on board. Many heads turned to face her. A group of people nearby heard and stared at the short girl quizzically.

Blushing furiously, she snatched the tickets back from the man. "One of those was for my husband."

"And where is he?"

She looked up skyward, remaining unblinking so that tears would spring from her eyes before she went back to face the man. "With the spirits up there." She sniffled. "I need a moment here, hold on."

Still unbelieving, the man looked at her again. "How old are you?"

Debating on whether to lie about her age, she finally answered truthfully, "Seventeen." After all, a majority of people married earlier than she claimed to have been.

"Well. . . ." the man scratched his chin.

The boat suddenly lurched forward, causing the man to lose his balance and giving Toph a chance to run.

"Later!" she shouted, running off in the direction of the downward stairs.

The _Avatar_ set sail.

* * *

**Well, tell me what you think. (And I'd like the truth, please.) I want to know exactly what needs to be changed and if you think I should continue. I'm not too happy with it, but everything that I wrote is for the reader. What do you think? (And for criticizing, try to keep it out of flame form. I don't accept those.) **

**The idea to make a Titanic-based Avatar parody came to me when I was waiting for my mom to choose her glasses at LensCrafters. (Don't know how, so don't ask.) I kept asking the Magic 8 Ball (My sister had one in her pocket. Again, don't ask.) whether or not I should write it. I always got forms of 'Yes' or 'Try again', so after much idea-polishing I came up with this.**

**If you have any questions (or suggestions), let me know. (Don't mention that the Magic 8 Ball story creeped you out or something. It scared me too, and I was the one going through with it!) **

**-Sophia**


	2. In Which The Two Encounter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

**I forgot to mention before, Suki is really OOC because I didn't want to make an original character for this story.**

* * *

As the _Avatar_ started lurching forward again, Sokka stumbled and tripped, a loud, echoing sound that caused everyone's gaze to focus on him. Thankfully, however, there was only one other person in the room: Suki. His face flushed a deep crimson color, similar to that of the Fire Nation, and he put on a small smile. "This room is _extremely_ nice, isn't it?" The exaggeration was on the 'extremely' for no apparent reason, though, and both parties, including himself, had no idea what he was talking about.

Suki shook her head in disgust, but a grin was finding its way onto her face. "That was ridiculous, you know that?" She turned to face the vanity mirror by the wall. She leaned forward and squinted her eyes. A slender, gloved finger poked at her heavily made-up cheek. Frowning, she shook her head again."Dear, dear. Does my face look a little pale to you?"

He stared at her face. Her large gray eyes were wide and demanding, surrounded by enough eye paint to make them pop out of her face. Surrounding them was a melon-colored paint that stretched across her face, almost like the mask he himself would have liked to wear. The rest of her face was covered in pale white powder. With her make-up on, she kind of reminded him of the acrobat-clown from the circuses he and his sister used to attend together. . . Well, before the marriage, anyway. She was like the acrobat lady they had met there, the one with the long chestnut-brown braid and the sparkling eyes.

Without her make-up on, Sokka thought that Suki was one of the most beautiful women around. Her eyes would shine and glitter with the light, darken with anger when she was frustrated, and seem larger than her make-up could ever fake. Her face was also viewable. He loved being able to see when she blushed or when she was angry. Her face was like a portal to it. Her face without the make-up was one of the factors that had helped him originally fall in love with her.

"A little pale?" he repeated slowly, making it seem like he was still comprehending the question. _Hell, yeah!_ He wanted to shout. _Take off all that damned make-up and look at me like you did a year ago! Act like my lover, not my mother!_ "No, way!" he decided upon instead, smiling at her with false adoration in his eyes. "You are just too beautiful."

"I know, but are you sure?" she question, turning to face the mirror once more. Sometimes it seemed that she thrived on compliments. There were never enough, just always too little.

"Positive," he said again, wrapping his arms around her waist. The forest green skirt she wore practically wrapped itself around his hands, strangling them, almost. Her perfume was choking him, it was so heavily scented and used, and after a moment of mental arguing, he released her to allow himself the fresh air to breathe.

As soon as he let go, Suki let her posture stiffen again and smoothed out her skirt, almost like a goody-two-shoes-Avatar-impersonator would do in their school days after being caught committing a wrong deed. She ran her fingers through her hair, and, with a flourish, flipped it behind her head. Sokka had the urge to tell her that hair cut over the shoulders did not flip, but kept his mouth shut, feeling confined, like a prisoner from his own thoughts.

Walking around the room as if an examiner, she announced, "This room is too small. The accommodations are grand, but this room isn't suitable for people of our wealth and class."

For a second he almost believed her, she said it with so much conviction. But, after he surveyed the room himself, fingering the intricately fine detail of the craved wooden bed post and tilting his head to the side to make sure the proportions of everything were correct, he had the need to contradict. "No it isn't. This room is the finest in quality compared to all the other ships we've been on." And it was. Not only that, but it was the finest room on the entire _Avatar_ as well.

"Don't disagree. I think that we should go file a complaint to the captain. What do you say?" she stared at him with a look clearly stating, 'I'm right and you know it. Agree with me and let's go.'

Pretending not to hear her, Sokka started to saunter out to the deck. He sometimes felt like Suki was a chain to him. He was being held down from doing what he wanted to do and having to help her with her needs or answer her silly questions and becoming her show-bison. It was supposed to be the other way around, or better yet, in the way that they were both equal and free, like his sister and her nomadic husband. Sighing, he leaned out onto the iron railing and stared at the turquoise water, the shade his eyes were supposed to be, but weren't because of the anger and deceit he felt.

--

"Where's Iroh?" the man in the room continued to repeat. He had a large beard and a thick Fire-Nation accent, though it seemed wore out by time and age.

"Yes, and where's Zuko?" the other one pestered, probably just to mimic the first man. He had the same build and eyes as that first man, so Toph guessed, or rather, deducted, that they were related, most likely father and son.

Groaning because her mind couldn't conjure up a story that quickly, especially with two insufferable baboons for roomates, she muttered a bunch of inaudible swear words mixed in with gibberish, trying to make it seem like she was a foreigner. The pressure she was feeling after but a minute on board was making her question why she had even bothered coming on. All it really did up until that point was drive her mad and give her a major migraine. The only thing she felt like doing was lying down and closing her eyes and never waking up.

"Where's Iroh?" the man asked her again, leaning close enough to her face to cause her to choke at his pipe-like smell.

"Yes, and Zuko, too!" the younger one repeated.

Could they just shut up? Was it that hard to understand? Plopping onto the bottom bunk of the bunk bed closest to her and the circular window, she buried her head into the stale and stinky pillow. Her eyes were closed, and she was so close to the silence and rest she desired. . .

. . . But the silence was nauseating. Actually, it wasn't the silence so much as the constant rocking of the ship, and the fact that she was in the third-class bottom part of it didn't do much to ease her troubles. And she could bet that the silence wasn't even going to last long. All she needed to do was use it to her advantage. Thinking as swiftly as her formally educated mind could muster, she tried to come up with a good excuse as to why the two losers from the card game couldn't come abroad.

"Where's Iroh?" the first man shouted like he thought she was deaf, or, all Avatars forbid, even mentally slow.

"And Zuko!" the second added in.

Well, at least the silence had lasted for some small moments. Realizing that she would have to answer at one point or another, she felt her heart hammer loudly in her chest as she sat up. Sweat dotting her forehead, Toph finally opened her mouth to answer, "Iroh, erm, told me to take his place because, umm, he needed to help his—" she choked as she tried to remember the relationship between the two people, "—so. . . nephew! Help his nephew. . . Umm. . . get a girl! Yeah, that's it, get a girl." She could almost feel her heartbeat slowing because that part of the conversation was over.

"I see," the older man nodded slowly, his fingers on his chin thoughtfully.

Mimicking the movements of his father, the younger one nodded as well, "Yes, I see. . . ."

"Good," Toph told them tiredly, waving them away. "Now go 'see' over there." She pointed at the door while she re-plopped onto the bed again.

There was another silence. The sound of footsteps. The sound of the door opening, then closing. And then. . .

"Where's Iroh?"

--

Suki pointed to another couple passing by, "Isn't that couple so adorable together?"

"Yes," he muttered obediently, feeling like a lion-pup following his master. It was the ninth, or was it tenth, time that she had pointed out an 'adorable couple' and that he had to agree with her. His voice almost sounded mechanical at that point.

Her gloved finger found its way across the room to point at another couple, "Oh, and aren't they the most adorable couple ever?"

"Yes," he murmured, thinking that his mind was lost.

After four other groups of 'adorable' lovers made their way into the dining room, Katara and Aang finally showed up at their scheduled meeting place—at the foot of the marble stairs and grandeur oak clock.

"Doesn't Katara look ravishing tonight?" Aang said as the opening line when they met up. His eyebrows wiggled up and down in a flirtatious manner as he watched Katara's face heat up and blush.

"Yes, yes," Suki hastily agreed in a tone similar to that of Sokka's earlier one. Sokka made no comment other than the nauseous, vomiting look he threw at his sister. She frowned and glared, knowing fully well that her overprotective older brother would never be comfortable with the idea of her having a husband. "Let's just go to dinner," Suki added, linking her arm with her fiancée's and leading the group into the glass-doored room.

The large, over-expensive light fixtures blinded Sokka as he entered, and he had to blink at least a dozen times rapidly before he finally felt at ease in the room. The scents of freshly cooked meats and soups filled his nostrils as he felt his stomach rumble with anticipation. Unfortunately, the stomach-rumble was a bit loud, and he had no control over Katara's insane giggling and the glare of his wife-to-be that followed.

Frowning because the momentary happy mood was lost, he finally did the leading and hurriedly led Suki and his sister and her husband to the nearest elegantly-set-up-table.

"Well, this is a nice setup," Katara commented with a polite smile, her blue eyes bright and shining because of all the light fixtures.

"Yeah. . . ." Aang muttered, staring at her as he answered, making it even more obvious that he wasn't even paying attention to anything but her.

A large, bulky man found his way to their table, a towel in his hand and a paper in the other. His grin, though real, was not contagious, and somehow dampened the moods of everyone at the table. "What would you like to eat?" he asked with a larger smile. "We have—" Before he could rattle off a long list of possible dinners, Suki interrupted.

"I will be having a platter of vegetables," she announced loudly. Sokka opened his mouth to place an order as she continued, "And my husband-to-be will be having the same." She smirked at him while the waiter hastily wrote down the orders. "Because we want to watch our health and figures and are really against eating any animals."

"Mmm hmm, right," Sokka muttered mindlessly in agreement, before realizing what he was agreeing to. He nearly jumped up to protest, but remembered his father and the money problem and stayed put.

Katara stared at the two with a look of disdain on her face, before turning to face the waiter and placing her order, then protectively placing her arm around Aang while he ordered the platter of vegetables as well.

Sokka watched as a meat cart rolled away, anger and sadness mixed in his eyes as it suddenly dawned on him that he probably wouldn't be eating them again.

--

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

Toph slammed the door as loudly as she could, grateful that she had finally gotten away from the two annoying roommates that wouldn't stop asking her where Iroh and Zuko were, even after she had already answered. She wasn't hungry, so she decided to walk for a while. Just to calm herself down and refrain from killing the two people she would have to share a room with. How Iroh and Zuko would ever put up with them was out of her mind.

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

A couple of people passed by her, their hair tangled in heaping masses of wheat and their eyes blank and tired. Their clothes were disheveled and there were large bags under their eyes. They looked like they spent most of their lives in a garbage bag. Yet they pointed and laughed at her when she passed by, almost like they thought themselves higher than she was.

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

Resisting the urge to scream out to them about who she was or trip them or murder them, she shook her head and continued walking. Surely there was a bench on this lower level for her to sit down on. She did _not_ want to go back to her room for a long time. It was the worst there. Worse than it was out on the deck.

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

Her bare feet padded against the dirty ground as she kept walking and trying to ignore the foul stenches arousing from all around the third class deck. She needed to rest somewhere, anywhere, just rest the pounding in her head that wouldn't go away.

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

The _Avatar_ lurched forward so quickly she had no time to react. Her head spun without consent and she was sure that her entire face was turning green. _Ignore it_, she told herself. _Ignore it._ She didn't want to have that old motion sickness return.

Pound. . . Pound. . . Pound. . .

It was worse than the headaches.

--

Dinner had been a disgrace to all the previous Avatars of the world, Sokka thought, for sure. Not only were his and Suki's constant bickering annoying to the other guests, they were barely on speaking terms. It was not turning out right. Not turning out tight at all.

He buried his face in his hands as he walked across the hallway and away from the dining room. He could almost feel his father's disappointing gaze on him as he walked by, almost feel Katara's anger let out on him, almost feel. . . something else. . .

But what was that something else? It felt oddly familiar, but strange at the same time. It was comforting yet not comforting. A feeling of security yet insecurity. Strength yet weakness.

Someone was. . . staring at him? He could feel eyes prickling their gaze on his back. Yes, someone was indeed staring at him. Ready to let out all of his anger and frustration on that person making him uncomfortable, he spun around to yell at whoever was causing him this much discomfort. Abruptly, he felt his heart speed up in a strange pattern, an irregular one he hadn't felt since he had first kissed Suki.

For one thing, it was a girl staring at him. And it was obvious from the way she looked and dressed that she was on the third-class part of the ship. But she had been staring at him nonetheless. His blue eyes pierced into her green eyes, and for a moment, neither of them could move, it was as if they were frozen in place. His eyes focused intently on her, what she looked like, what he thought she could act like. . . She was lacking in height, decked out in all green, and had raven-black hair the color of his heart before that point. He bet she was a bit weak inside, but had a tough exterior. It was in her eyes. Her pale, milky eyes. . .

Finally, he had to turn away. He had to reconcile with Suki, after all.

He stole a quick glance at the girl again, slightly surprised to see a faint blush staining her cheeks. She didn't seem like the type of girl who could blush so easily. Maybe it was a trick of the light. . .

But even as he walked in the opposing direction, away from that girl with the striking eyes, he knew her gaze hadn't left him.

* * *

**Whew, after a long time of no updates I pulled this together in about two or so hours. Whadya think? I just can't wait until the next chapter where they'll literally meet. Oh the Tokka goodness! -dances-**

**And yeah, like the beginning said, Suki is definitely going to be OOC for this entire fic. It sure beat making up a character and a history for her, so I just had to use Suki. I dunno, Yue doesn't fit this much. I mean, I know Suki doesn't either, but Suki fits it better. Plus, I'm more a Sukka shipper than I am a Yukka (or whatever the name is), so at least they're somewhat together in this.**

**Until the next chapter, I bid you farewell! -bows-**

**-Sophia**

**P.S. If you are planning on reviewing, which you don't have to do, criticism in non-flame form is a great thing for me. But if you don't want to do that, regular reviews are fine. All authors thrive on reviews. (I'm one of them.)**


	3. In Which The Man Apologizes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

**Suki is really OOC because I didn't want to make an original character for this story.**

* * *

He could tell that Katara was thinking about something, not really thinking, but mentally challenging herself with the problem, pondering over the solution, then deciding it was ridiculous and starting all over again, when he had entered his room and saw her waiting for him at the foot of his bed, a worried, hurt, and frustrated look etched upon her features. She had the specific face on—the one that could win her Pai Sho games because it looked like she was concentrating too hard, and it was also the face that haunted him whenever he thought of his mistakes. In a way she was like a living conscience for him.

"Where's Aang?" he asked nonchalantly, avoiding the fact that she had something more important to question. _Hopefully_, he thought wistfully, _hopefully she'll forget whatever she wants to talk to me about_. He, however, was not completely oblivious, though there were many an occasion that he was so clueless it was no longer funny. He knew that she was planning to talk to him about Suki. About how he was messing up their father's future. About the debts and financial problems.

Avoiding his gaze, she let her hands run over the posts of the bed, obviously admiring the craftsmanship of it all. She stood up, and answered lazily, "Oh, I sent him to our room. He knows I need to talk to you. He doesn't really mind. Aang's a sensitive and kind guy, and—"

"Okay, I get it!" Sokka interrupted her childishly, his tone similar to that of a young boy ready to put his hands over his ears to block out what he didn't want to hear. Just what he needed, more reason to worry. "And Suki?" he questioned slowly, knowing fully well that he should be the one who knew and once again putting on the false facade that he didn't really care.

"She's with a friend," Katara announced loudly, stretching her arms before crossing them across her chest. Her hip jutted a little more to the right, for her right leg had all the weight placed upon it, and her left leg was bent a little as her tanned mouth curved into a frown.

"Oh," was the single word that escaped his lips. Not able to think up anything intelligent, anything worth retorting, he stared at her helplessly. "What did you want to talk about?" He knew that the conversation could not have been put off, but at least he had saved himself for an extra minute.

"You know very well what I want to talk about, _Sokka_," she let her eyes pierce through his own, suddenly reminding him of the girl he had seen in the hall and causing him to look away quickly, which she hopefully took as a sign of retreat and not of a hidden agenda. When he answered nothing and the room remained silent, she produced a loud groan. "Sokka!" she screeched, hissed even. "What about Dad?"

Perfect, just perfect, she was guilt-tripping him into apologizing to Suki, which they both knew he didn't want to do. "What about him?" he asked, voice small, almost like he were the younger sibling. He did not like where this was going. _Avatar help me_, he mentally pleaded. _Katara really is a human conscience!_

"Sokka," she changed her tone to one more gentle. "When I went off to marry Aang, I knew I was making the right choice. I would never be able to fill in your place. The situation is too dire. When Mom died and Dad was so depressed he got into the gambling world, I immediately knew that Aang and I had to marry quickly. I knew that Dad was going to get into debt. Gambling isn't easy for anyone but the cheaters, and Dad being the honorable man he is, didn't cheat."

It was almost like she was repeating their entire history to him, trying to remind him of the hopeless situation he wanted so much to be out of.

"Now the debts need to be paid. Or _they'll_ take away Dad's life. You don't want that to happen, do you?" her voice was mildly threatening but showed more concern for both of the men in her family's welfare rather than anything else.

"I know the story, Katara," he snapped defensively, angrily. "I have to marry Suki for the stupid money and get Dad out of debt. She's our last hope. Yadda yadda yadda!" He wanted to break something, anything. Just grab the closest object near him and hurl in to the floor until it broke into the thousands of unusable pieces that he wanted to be the problem. Broken. . . Gone. . .

She sighed empathetically and placed her hand on his shoulder, a small, sad smile on her face. "Apologize to her. You know it's for the best."

With her final words, she bowed out of his room and departed into her own, leaving Sokka to think about what his problems really were and if there were any other ways to solve them, which, unfortunately, there weren't.

--

Her eyes were practically shut at that point. She was really tired, sleepy, exhausted, all forms of the word. She still felt dizzy and weak from the motion sickness from the rocking of the _Avatar_. She wasn't in the mood of getting up and retreating back to the room of the idiots. The only good thing, the only positive side to it all, was that she was already at a bench—one that took a damn long time to find, so she wasn't easily going to surrender it to any lucky weasel-monkey who passed by. She stretched out her legs as far as they could go, which sadly wasn't much and took up only three-fourths of the bench, and rested her head on her right arm and her left hand flat upon her stomach.

Her headache-migraine was gone, thank the spirits, but she couldn't help but feel a lingering, nagging pain. One that just refused to go away because it wasn't real. One that would never leave until she came up with a real answer. One that needed time to be solved. A question, a problem, that needed answering. That needed a solution. She needed to come to terms with it herself, even.

Why had she blushed? More so, why had she bothered staring? And even more of something worth wondering, why him?

It was a simple question, really. Her mind was just making a huge deal out of something stupid and small. But it was nagging at her. Elbowing, twisting, demanding, poking, asking, pleading, begging to be answered. Why, oh why, had she blushed?

She had never before met the stupid man, that was for sure. Hell, she still hadn't met him. All she did was stare. A lot. And she didn't really know what he looked like because he was too far away to be distinguished from her impaired eye vision. So she wasn't even sure that he looked decent. Yet all she did was stare. What did he do to make her stare at him? What did he do to make her blush? What made him so damn special?

She had found the bench and had been ready to rest upon it when something had caught her eye. How that something had, she didn't know, but it had happened and she couldn't control it. And that something was going to come back and haunt her, she had known it. Fate just never went her way.

It was probably the fact that the passing boy had seemed upset. His sadness was obvious, searing through him and somehow getting deep into her, piercing through her stomach and digging itself into her curious, wondering gaze. As he had passed, she could feel the tears he must have shed, feel the desperation in his soul, feel an argument getting into her head as it had him. She didn't know how he could have been so upset, but he was. There had been something. . . Something about that boy that had caught her attention, and once it had, she couldn't let it go.

And he had sensed her staring! Sensed her stupid staring! And he had turned around to see what she was doing. It was obvious he was planning on yelling at her and asking why she had been looking at him so intently, but something about her must have caught his attention too. And from there, she had no intention of letting go of his gaze. Though she couldn't tell what he looked like, what color his eyes were, or any other detail like that, she had no intention at all to let go. She could tell he was surprised, probably a little scared, but not willing to be the first to let go of their 'eye battle'.

His gaze was almost as intent on her as hers had been on him. People had passed by and distorted their views of each other, no doubt wondering why the two people from completely different worlds had been looking at each other with something different from disgust and anger and hatred.

He had been the first to let go. Of the gaze, anyway. Whatever had been upsetting him had jumped back into his mind and was back to haunt him like he was haunting her now. That strange man had turned and left, shaking his head almost with. . . Disgust? Frustration?

And _still_ she hadn't stopped looking at him.

Why had she been looking at him in the first place? There was nothing special about him, that was for sure. Now she was permanently being haunted, plagued by this so-called man who had the decency to stare at her like she had him and then walk away in a huff like nothing had ever happened in the first place. He was not worth it. Not worth her time. Not worth her gaze. Not worth her energy of thinking about him.

But she knew she was going to continue concentrating on him. She was always going to question herself about what had happened. She was always going to wonder what had been plaguing him and what had caused her to feel a sudden empathy for him. She was always going to wonder about _him_.

She rolled over on the bench, so that she was on her side, so that her back was to the back rest of the bench. So she could stare out into the open and think.

Think about what made her blush and stare at him. He was a first-class passerby, for Spirit's sake! He had done nothing—ABSOLUTELY NOTHING—to make her stare.

But she had. And, though she and the spirits may be angry. . .

She wanted to do it again.

--

"_I think I can choose my own food, Suki," his voice was harsh and angry, his face red and his eyes fired up._

"_But, you know I don't like that you eat so much meat! Poor baby animals are being killed for our dinner!" she defended herself, tone of voice rising._

_His eyebrows squinted together for a brief second before his entire face contorted with anger. "Well I'm me! I should be allowed to make my own damn choices!" he shouted furiously. _

_Katara and Aang glanced at each other nervously from across the table, both aware that other parties from around the dining hall were staring at them. The fight that Sokka and Suki were having was gaining them too much unneeded and unwanted attention. They had to stop before the head commander of the ship would make plans to kick them off._

"Suki?" Sokka called out softly, hoping with all his heart that she would not answer, that she wasn't even in the room of the Jinsu Family. He felt his voice crack a little. "Suki?" His hand rapped lightly on the door of the room two doors away from his own room. The corridor he was in was no longer crowded with people, and the lights were all off. The only illumination of the chamber he was in were small candles lit at each end of the hallway.

Shrugging because it was his fifth try and there still was no answer, he turned to leave. There was really no point in him staying and trying to apologize to a closed door, and he needed sleep after all. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, he slouched off.

"Sokka?" a quiet voice squeaked out, sounding sad and like it had just been crying. "Is that you?"

Spinning around quickly, he came face to face with his fiancée, and he felt surprise and shock well up inside his stomach when he stared at her. It looked as though she had been crying, for her emerald-clad hand was hastily wiping tears off of her still heavily made-up face, and her eyes were red and puffy. Long lines of her real skin color shone through in the nighttime light, and he felt instant pity and regret for yelling at her during dinner.

"_You think I don't give you freedom, is that it? I let you parade around in that stupid attire, don't I?" she snapped back furiously._

_He felt something in him crack, "What's wrong with the way I look?"_

_She didn't sense that it was the moment for her to keep quiet or hold back insults. She didn't sense that whatever she told him was going to be thrown back at her harder. "Do you think I like having to walk around with you when you don't care about how society can see you? They don't see you like you're handsome, Sokka. They all think that you're poor and lazy because your hair is never combed back right and is always in that ridiculous ponytail. They all think that you have no style because you wear that blue tunic and dress pants all the time. I'm tired of it, Sokka! I hate having to be talked about because people don't think twice about me. They all assume that because you aren't dressed up, that I never will be. I hate it!"_

_Her outburst caught her breath, and she momentarily had to clutch her chest and breathe in deeply before she could remain somewhat calm again._

_Sokka frowned, looking down at his attire before looking at her in the eyes. People from all around the dining room were standing up to stare at the couple and the waiter was slowly backing away from the table rather than putting down their food._

"Yeah, it's me," he murmured to her, his hand automatically extending to caress her cheek, his thumb wiping away any stray tears falling from her gray eyes, which were glazed with more oncoming tears. Yes, he was definitely feeling remorse and guilt for his shouts at dinner.

"What do you want? To yell at me more?"

He had experience with Suki when she was like this plenty of times before. She would cry and pout for a long time, at least until he comforted her and gave her promises of their future together and would talk about how jealous other wealthy classed citizens would be when they attended her wedding. He would spin long tales of how much money she would be able to spend and of what fanciful gifts she would be receiving from both him and the guests. Her tears would cease and she would stare at him with such innocence it made him wonder why he didn't enjoy spending time with her, and then, she would smile. He would bury his head into her hair and smile himself, whispering about how much he was sorry, begging, pleading for forgiveness, and then kissing her lightly on the forehead.

Her mood would have been healed and fully restored back to its regular, arrogant self, and she would stand up and brush the dust off of her skirt like it was weakness to sit on the ground. Then she would start talking about how much money she was planning on spending on a new dress or asking him questions about how she looked. He would immediately drop all thoughts of pity and smile falsely, nodding with the hopes that she would just change, then following her out to do whatever she wanted.

"No."

"_I wish I could say the same about you, but I can't. You're so damn vain and arrogant! Sometimes I just want to smack you in the head! You're beautiful, Suki, but you live on compliments. You can't stand it if no one tells you that you look good. And I always have to tell it to you! What am I, an accessory?" he should have stopped there, but after her shocking revelation, he couldn't hold back anymore. _

"_You poke and prod at your face that's covered in that messy goop that you think is making you pretty. Well, heads up, brainiac, you're not getting any prettier or any younger." Suki's eyes were filled with tears by his last statement, and the crowd of people watching all had their mouths open in wide 'O's'. Gasps were heard from across the room, including from Katara and Aang, who were getting up and sneaking away from the table._

"_Your over-sized head is always in front of the vanity mirror, you know that? Do you ever bother doing anything other than covering yourself in make-up and insulting other people?" he emitted a loud, sardonic laugh. "They made the mirror just for you, I'll bet. They even named it after you. 'Vanity'. All for the vain little brat."_

He gulped uneasily, nervously, then used the hand that wasn't on his wife-to-be to rub the back of his neck as he looked up at the ceiling. He was praying to the spirits for the strength to go through with the apology, to lie about how he felt about her just to comfort her, to lie just so that his family would be out of debt, so his father would survive.

"Well, what is it, then?" she snapped, demanded. He looked at her strangely, giving her a look that screamed, 'you're supposed to be sad'. At his gaze, she immediately looked down and let tears re-form in her eyes.

"I want to apologize."

"_You. . . You. . . You Jerk!" Suki shouted, tears streaming down her face. Knowing her role of a woman, she buried her face in her hands and scurried from the room, her sobs and footsteps still heard from the echoing corridors._

_Everyone in the dining room had heard their loud outbursts and arguments. They all were staring at the man from the Water Tribe like he was a monster for treating a woman like so. Their glares were piercing into him, and their hushed whispers drove him to insanity._

"_Apologize! Apologize!" _

_He felt his heart snap as a picture of his father conjured up in his head. He could see Katara shaking her head in the distance, her arm around her husband protectively. He could still see Suki fleeing from the room. He could still see. . . _

"You do?" she whispered quietly, looking up at him with shining eyes.

"Well, yeah," he told her gently, pushing all other thoughts aside and looking at her, trying to love her. "I was, and I quote, 'a jerk'." He had wanted to imitate her voice, but he knew she would have taken it too seriously and would have ended up crying even more.

She giggled a little before swatting at him playfully, weakly. "You were, weren't you?"

He nodded with an empty grin, "Mmm hmm. And I can promise you this: I didn't mean anything that I said at dinner today. I must've smoked too many pipes or something. You are as beautiful as. . . as. . . . " He looked around for something to use as a good simile. "Ah! As beautiful as my tunic is blue."

Suki smiled and wrapped both of her arms around his chest, burying her face into his oh-so-familiar clothes. "Thanks."

There was a silence.

"Let's just go to sleep. It's late and we're both tired."

--

Toph shook her head and clutched nervously at her stomach, letting the pertubed wave of nausea try and pass. She was not, _not, _NOT going to get motion sickness on the _Avatar_.

* * *

**Umm, this was basically a filler. I know it's a bit early to be doing that, but this chapter is already well over three thousand words, and I want all of my chapters around the same length. Plus, what I was going to add to the next part would have made this have another two thousand or so words, and that's a bit too long for what I normally write. (Plus, it's kinda hard to keep your place in reading something so long.)**

**Anywho, the next chapter will have all the fun stuff in it. For those of you who remember or watched the actual Titanic movie, it's the part with Rose and suicide and twenty bucks. -dances- I'm so super psyched to be getting that up. **

**Well, erm, that's all for now. I have nothing else to say. Or do I?**

**Questions, comments, or concerns? Lemme know! No flames, please. Any and all criticism is welcome. **

**-Sophia**

**Chapter finished: March 10**


	4. In Which The Two Meet

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

**Suki is really OOC because I didn't want to make an original character for this story.**

* * *

Her sleeping body was curled off all on its own as far as could be on the other side of the bed, Sokka deducted with a small smile, staring up at the ceiling of the rocking boat. The engraved wooden pattern swayed with no control, and it gave off the illusion that he was intoxicated on Cactus Juice.

He licked his lips hungrily, practically demanding the drink to suddenly appear in thin air and satisfy his empty stomach. Anything would help that deep, empty feeling.

It was there, the nervousness again. And he had no idea as to why. He had already apologized. Life was back to as it should be, as it would be. But not as it could be. There was so much that could be and never had the chance of happening. . . So much he wanted out of life. . .

. . . Starting with the satisfaction of filling his empty stomach. He hadn't had dinner because of his and Suki's argument.

But it was too late to just get up and prance around to ask for a good meal to eat.

Sokka had no idea what time it was, but he knew that it had _not_ been a long time since the two had both retreated to their room to go to sleep. It made him slightly sad, well, maybe a lot more than that, to know this, for he had been looking forward to the morning so he could abandon her and walk off on his own.

He wanted to see all of the sights left to see on the _Avatar_—from the first-class tables and furniture and curtains to the third-class floorboards and beds. He was especially curious about the lower-classed people. How did they sleep? What kind of beds did they use? Did they all speak the same language? Were they friendly? He wanted to see and meet as many of the passengers as possible, get that small taste of freedom while he still could. Maybe even make a real friend.

Or, better yet, he wouldn't mind being able to stand out and stare at the sky, looking at the stars, those beautiful balls of gas that shone so brightly during the evening. He wanted to try and see the pictures that all the astronomers of their village had been able to see. To view the magnificence that nature had bestowed upon them. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. He always had harbored a small attraction, affection, for the moon, though he didn't know why.

The ocean was a good thing to view as well. He would never object to seeing a dolphin or fish make its way through the water, digging a path and splitting the turquoise-green of sea. In fact, it would probably be an entertaining thing to watch. Like a show on at the fairs that they used to attend. Didn't the moon control the tides?

Currently it was too dark to see it all. But was there a lantern he could use? The dark wouldn't be _as_ dark if he had some lighting.

_Yes, that would be fun_, he decided, bolting upright in bed. The boat lurched again, and Suki rolled over, closer to him. Her arm extended toward his hand, and he had to spend a minute questioning whether she was or was not deep in slumber. Was she watching him? Purposely waiting for him to screw up or make a horribly lethal mistake?

"I'll be back," he whispered, almost missing the times where he used to lean in and kiss her on the forehead before doing something without her. Almost. He was just so overly excited he could barely make his limbs function properly. Yes, this would be his time of freedom, every evening up until their arrival of their wedding in the newer kingdom. He shuddered at the thought, hoping for something, anything, to keep him from marrying her.

He had no idea.

He gently pushed the silk sheets of his bed to the side, suddenly hearing every small noise made by the boat. Were those creaking noises always there? Since when did the mattress make a squishing noise? Why did the floor shriek? With as much precision and calm as he could muster, he leaned toward the edge of the bed and stealthily placed his foot on the ground.

_Creeeeak_!

Sokka cursed under his breath, the noise was so loud. With a determined look etched upon his face, he placed his other foot on the ground.

_Creeeeak_!

He quickly turned around again to face Suki, his heart hammering in his chest and sweat dotting his forehead. If she woke up. . .

His fiancée was still, thank the Spirits, sleeping, and quite soundly at that. With newfound courage, he stood up completely, almost tipping over to the side because of the _Avatar_'s constant moving. He looked up.

If there was ever a time for him to mentally beat himself up, it was that exact moment. With much regret, Sokka remembered that he had chosen the side of the bed that was farthest from the door and closest to the window, for he had wanted to see the view and hadn't exactly desired to be the one opening the door each time it was knocked upon. He let out a depressed sigh, and placed one foot in front of the other as slowly and as lightly as possible, trying to keep the creaking from coming. For some reason unknown to him, however, every step made a louder creak than the last.

And after every step he took, he would turn back to face his soon-to-be-wife and search to see that she was still asleep.

When many minutes had passed, he finally let out a relieved sigh.

He was at the door; he could leave. Grabbing a match from the stand by the door, he dug around the drawer underneath for a candle. Snatching up the first wax stick he could find, a small grin of triumph played on his lips. It was a scented one, but a candle nonetheless. He struck the match and watched the eerie glow light up the entire room. Tiptoeing out of the room, he shut the door.

He was free.

--

His first step of freedom, Sokka decided, was to think of a way to complain to the ship makers that the floors creaked too much. He would not be able to stand going through that trip again, he was one-hundred percent, no, more than that, two-hundred percent, positive of it.

The flame of the candle light illuminated his path, making every once beautiful picture frame or rug suddenly seem old and spooky. He couldn't help but look around and gawk at everything as though he were still seeing it for the first time. His new freedom was giving him new confidence, somehow, and he couldn't help but feel that he had just gone through an entire cycle of rebirth. Everything was just so new!

Shaking his head and grinning, he chose to take the stairs that would lead to the upper deck. He wanted to look at the stars first. . .

--

Toph shook her head indignantly, clutching her stomach with as much force as it took her to contain the nausea. No, no, no! She was not going to let herself get sick; she had already promised herself that. But it was too much for her to control. She could almost feel herself turning green.

The boat rocked again, and she could also feel herself roll off of the bench. A splitting pain knocked her on the head, and a bright flash of white light clouded her vision for only a moment. Mumbling curses under her breath after standing up, she stumbled about looking for the railing of the deck, one hand cupping her mouth, the other extended outward to feel her way through.

She was going to be sick. . .

--

As soon as he stepped out into the fresh night air, the flame on his candle went out. It was a bit chilly and windy, so he figured there was no point in relighting it. Pocketing the candle, he took a hesitant step forward. Why suddenly, he was feeling a bit unsure about being out there, he did not know, but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that something was going to go horribly wrong. And his intuition was never wrong. Another foot made its way forward, a bit uneasily if anyone had to judge it, and slowly he let his nerves drop back into his stomach.

There was no point in him being worried. No one else was out there.

Grim determination and his manly pride kept him from turning back, and his steps forward started becoming strides, his face slowly becoming one of peace and tranquility. . .

. . .That didn't last. . .

_BAM!_

Without warning, a force smashed against Sokka, sending him spiraling backward onto the ground and making him land on his back. Pain bounded through his neck and he struggled to get up. And when he did, the only thing that he deducted could have been the one that ran into him was the small figure that was quickly fading off in the distance.

Standing up quickly and brushing dust off of his clothes, he bounded forward, determined to catch whoever it was that knocked him down.

He pumped his legs forward, using much of his energy to at least get in viewing distance of the form. He was going to catch up with that person and give them piece of his mind. Sprinting toward the person was a lot harder than he had originally thought, because, for one thing, the person obviously had no idea where he or she was going, and for another, the deck of the _Avatar_ was just too big.

He kept running in the direction of the figure, a stitch forming in his side as he continued. He really should have eaten. . .

--

All she knew was that she had been running peacefully and alone one moment and then in the next, she was suddenly being chased by someone. Well, maybe she wasn't _so_ innocent, but he was in her way. She had been doing him a favor when she had shoved him away from her path.

His footsteps were loud and echoed through the entire ship, probably, and she wanted to kill him.

But she couldn't. The blood would make her even more nauseous and she could easily guess who would be the one to clean up.

Brushing the thought aside, she nearly collided with the deck. "Thank the Spirits!" she whispered loudly, though she doubted that anyone heard her.

Feeling her breakfast climb up her stomach and throat, she leaned over the deck railing and heaved.

--

Then, when he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up any longer, the person stopped running. And, almost gleefully, Sokka slowed down his own pace so that he was just walking to the edge of the ship.

The closer he got, the more nervous he was getting. What if he was recognized? What if the form was a murderer or a robber? What if he chased after the wrong person? What if the person he chased would tell Suki? Hundreds of thousands of 'what ifs' ran through his mind, and they were the only things keeping him from making it to the figure earlier.

His step slowed down to one similar to that of a slow motion reel, and he took a deep breath.

He or she was leaning against the railing of the deck, arms bent slightly to keep the person from falling, hands clutching the rail tightly, knuckles almost white, and his or her head was bent downward so that the face was staring into the plummeting depths of ocean water. Sokka edged his way closer, both curious and afraid of what the figure was capable of doing.

He bode his way over to the railing himself, leaning against it like a casual stranger, a strange, happy feeling bubbling into his chest because he knew he wasn't noticed. It was kind of fun to sneak up on the person. From the angle he was standing at, it was suddenly easier for him to tell that the person who had run into him was a female. Somehow a little more shy, Sokka bent his head to her level, a small smile playing upon his lips as he watched her dark hair cling to her face, due to sweat possibly, and her body subconsciously tense.

He stood up and watched as the reason for her leaning against the edge began to show and she started retching vehemently. Her fists clenched more tightly around the rail and he felt himself shiver as he watched her.

As curious as he had been to why she was leaning against the edge of the ship, before he had discovered it, of course, he was also curious as to why she had taken the time to run into him. "Hey," Sokka croaked out, his voice deep and yet high and squeaky at the same time.

The girl looked up so suddenly it caused him to jump back, and the smile that had been on his face slowly dwindled. The back of her hand was wiping her mouth with a look on her face clearly stating that something foul had been in it, and her face was too covered by her hair for him to tell what she was feeling because of her eyes. "You talking to me?" she asked slowly, finally.

Almost in relief, the smile was back on his face. "Yeah. I guess." He wanted to seem so calm and cool, but there was still so much excitement in his voice when he answered.

She looked him up and down, almost as though she was inspecting him, before answering again. "What?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"What?" The girl's hands were on her hips now, and the impatience in her voice was filling the air like a poisonous gas.

Oh. _Oh_. OH! He finally understood. "Umm," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, though his eyes never left the girl for a moment. "You ran into me back there."

"I see. . . ." There was another silence and she looked at him strangely. Her head tilted to the side and her arms crossed underneath her chest. Even in the darkness of the night, he could tell that she had paled. "Can you step back a little?"

"Why?" he asked, though he still obliged.

Her back stiffened a little more, and she turned a shade horribly similar to white when compared to the night sky. He could almost feel a smile play on his lips. Suki never stood out by the moon anymore. He had never really seen skin glow so beautifully with the moonlight in such a long time. . .

A silence enclosed them again and suddenly Sokka came upon the notion that she did not want to talk to him. Oh, but he wanted to talk to her. _Talk_, he silently commanded her. _Talk_!

She gave him no satisfaction, only adding to his troubles as she stepped backward.

He blinked a few times, feeling a strange sense of déjà vuas he began to realize that there was something strangely familiar about her. "Why did you want me to step back?" he asked slowly.

The girl remained silent for yet another moment, "Deciding if you were worth my time."

A little surprised, he forced his gaze onto her, trying to see her soul, her reason why. "So, was I worth your time?" He could never really joke around or play around with Suki. Everything had to be literal. No sarcasm or anything similar to it. All was exact.

She took a small step back, one that went unnoticed to him because of his excitement. "No."

Feeling a little hurt, he tried his best not to show it, and, staring at her again, he began to recall all of the thoughts and feelings from earlier that evening, memories from the hours previous flooding back to him. And then it came to him. "You're that girl. . . ." he muttered loudly enough for her to hear. At that phrase, the girl could tell that he was momentarily distracted, and found it as a perfect chance for an escape. Bounding away from him, she was just a flame leaving a trail of heat for him to follow.

_--_

_Keep running_, Toph scolded herself, hearing the heavily pounding footsteps behind her, indicating that the man was following her. _Keep running_.

Couldn't that man get the hint? She was _not_ interested. She was running _away_ from him, for Spirit's Sake! Cursing under her breath, she turned back for a second, only to see a darkened form gaining up to her place. Her heart hammering in her chest, she sped up and forward, hoping he would understand.

The ship lurched and she lost her balance, causing her to stumble for but a brief moment and giving the man a chance to catch up with her. _Crap_. Her head was slowly becoming fuzzy, and she had to stop to regain balance. She reached out toward the arm of the bench nearby, but he was behind her, his hand on her shoulder.

"Please." His voice was quiet, soft, pleading, demanding, and slightly angry all at once.

"What?" she snapped with venom in her voice, shaking her arm vehemently out of his grip, hoping it would scare him off. She couldn't understand why she had been so eager to stare at him earlier but when he was in reach she refused him. Maybe it was the fact that something was going in her favor for once.

He recoiled slightly, though he was firm. "Why did you run?"

_Don't let him in_, she repeated to herself. _Don't let him in_. "I don't want to talk to you."

The man smiled a little, shaking his head in disbelief. "It didn't seem like that before."

Her face remained composed. "I don't understand. What're you talking about?"

"On the deck," he reminded her as though he truly thought that she had forgotten. How could she have when the memory had been plaguing her throughout the night? "You were staring at me."

Mentally debating on whether or not she was going to say it wasn't her or she was staring at someone else took a long time, and she finally decided that she would use neither of the excuses as she had a better one. "Look, I can tell the captain that you're stalking me." Her tone was almost smug, and Toph felt her pride slowly rise up again. . .

He smirked a little. "And who would he believe? Me or you? I'm on the first-class section of the ship, in case you didn't know." At least she figured out why she didn't want to talk to him. He was rich.

Damn, she didn't know that. And now she had messed up her chances of ending the conversation. Perfect, just perfect. "Why do you want to talk to me?"

The man remained silent, almost like he had no real answer for her. He sat down on the bench, patting the seat as if to tell her that he wanted her to sit down too. She remained standing, not having been able to sense his gesture. Frowning, he cleared his throat. And yet, with no response, he decided to speak up. "You wanna sit down?"

She shook her head with slight confidence, turning her back to leave. However, the _Avatar_ rocked again, almost as if it was being commanded by the Spirits to make the girl sit down. Stomach rumbling, she was suddenly eager, and easily sunk into the seat.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as the man still had no answer to her question.

--

Sokka blinked a few times, trying, but definitely not succeeding, to find a solution as to why he was feeling the need to stay and talk to the girl, whom he had just found out had been the one staring at him earlier, as well as an answer to why the girl hadn't been quick to sit down on the seat after his first two motions.

"'Lo?" she asked groggily, with obviously feigned yawning and tire in her voice. "Look, if you. . . aren't going to answer. . . I can just. . . you know, go. . . ." She stood up with so much quick energy if he hadn't known she was faking it earlier, he would have solved the puzzle by that point.

Grabbing her arm with a strength he hadn't used in a while, he pulled her back down to the bench. "No." He knew it was wrong, but each of the girl's attempts to leave only managed to make him feel like smiling.

An angry and frustrated grimace on her face, she scowled. "Look, if you're planning on keeping me here all night, at least give me a good reason to. I mean, come _on_! You won't even tell me why you want to talk to me so badly. I want to sleep!" she practically shouted, arms grabbing him by the shoulders. She had finally cracked.

A few lights started to flicker on at her yells, and soft footsteps started padding across floors and decks. Of course, neither of the two seemed to notice.

"I don't know, okay?" Sokka cried out desperately. He really had no idea as to why he needed to talk to her, why she was the girl who _had_ to be his friend. "I'll answer when you freakin' tell me why you were staring earlier."

"Spirits, that again," she muttered, though it was too loud to be considered as such. "I wasn't staring at you! In case you didn't notice, my eyes are screwed!" She paused her shouts to pull her long bangs out of her face. "See that?" she pointed, rapidly moving her finger closer and farther away from her eyes. "Not! Normal!"

Sokka gave her no answer, only a sad look coming on his face.

"And, if you don't mind, I'll be going to bed now," she declared in a huff, arms across her chest indignantly as she turned away.

A large beam of light was abruptly shining on her face, and, though it took a moment for her to register that there was a light shining on her face, she recognized it quickly enough for her to growl at the person holding the lantern. "What?"

"You do realize that your inappropriate behavior woke up a majority of people on this ship?" the man with the lantern muttered, shaking his head. When she gave him no answer, merely crossing her arms, he continued. "After a lot of complaining, I had to catch the perpetrator. And why am I not surprised it is the young woman with two last names?" He bent his head to her level, a smirk on his face.

The girl snorted, though the glare in her eyes was enough to make the lantern man retreat backward an inch.

Sokka had been standing in the background, doing nothing more than watching the event taking place. The girl wasn't doing anything to defend herself, merely staying quiet with a silent dignified look on her face. It wasn't even fully her fault! "Excuse me!" Sokka spoke up, clearing his throat and moving forward, his arm in the air. He wasn't even thinking of the consequences as he prepared to defend the young lady he didn't even know.

--

"Sokka! You. . . Her. . . Now. . . ." Suki was beyond furious when both parties were presented to her in the middle of the evening. Her head was buried in her hands as she wailed mercilessly. "What the hell were you doing with third class? And in the middle of the night! The middle of the freakin' night. . . ."

"And they were having some kind of an argument, M'lady," the man with the lantern supplied graciously, the look on his face obviously stating that he was trying to infuriate the woman so that Sokka would have a greater punishment.

Her head shot up to reveal a red, tear streaked face, and she prodded her slender finger at his chest. "Yelling? With her? Sokka!" she shrieked desperately. "I don't know you anymore. With this. . . this. . . Ugh! I can't even think up a good name for her."

At that comment, the Toph finally decided to speak up. "Excuse me, Lady? I think that a good nickname for _you_ would be bit—"

Suki looked murderous, and her hand was digging through the pocket of her skirt for a sharp, lethal weapon. Sensing trouble, Sokka stepped in between the two women. "Woah woah woah! She's my fiancée, you can't call her that," he told the girl he was with. Suki looked smug. He turned to face her, a small look of anger etched upon it, "And could you be any lower than to insult a guest?"

"A guest? Sokka, you were with her in the middle of the night doing who knows what?" Suki yelled, her face turning colors, though it was impossible to see underneath all the makeup she had somehow gotten on her face before her husband-to-be had arrived.

"What?!" the two shouted at the same time, their faces flushed.

"I don't even know the girl's name!" Sokka defended himself.

She crossed her arms, "You're never gonna."

Suki ignored the ebony-haired child and turned to face her fiancée. "Why were you with her?"

The man with the lantern stopped the girl from escaping the room, securing her into place for punishment.

"I. . . I. . . ." He looked up at the spirits for answers.

The girl wriggled free out of the man with the lantern's grip and glared at Suki. "We ran into each other and I freaked out and yelled at him. Can I go now?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Sokka shrugged, looking gratefully at the girl. She wasn't even looking at him, for she was on her way out of the chamber.

"Sokka, why didn't you tell me, then?" Suki sighed deeply, running into his arms and hugging him. "I was worried there was something else going on. Oh thank Kyoshi that the truth came out."

The man with the lantern stared at them both with a strange look on his face before shaking his head and bidding his way out of their room to give the couple privacy.

"Yeah, right. . . ." Sokka muttered, wrapping his arm around the woman tightly, sending the message of his forever presence.

--

She walked with as much dignity and pride that she could muster, seeing as there was none left, at least grateful to know that she hadn't given any information as to who she was or what she was like. Letting out a small breath of relief that blew her long bangs out of her face, she added a new air of confidence in her step.

"Wait!" a voice called out. Great. It was the man. Sukka, was it? "Wait!" he placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving forward again, which she would've done had the ship not swaggered again.

"What?" she let out a sigh that gave off the saying, 'I'm tired, leave me alone.' But if he heard it or noticed it, her tone was completely forgotten.

"Why'd you cover for me back there?" he asked finally, removing his hand from her should when he was sure she'd stay put.

Why did she lie for him? He had only caused her trouble, after all. "Eh," she shrugged. "You had to put up with that bi—witch for a fiancée, I figured you had it hard enough."

"Hey! She's not that bad!" he protested, unsure of why he was defending her. Oh wait, he still was engaged to her. He couldn't forget that part.

She quirked an eyebrow, her arms crossed. "Really?" she said disbelievingly, prepared to mimic the woman. "Oh, Sokka, darling!" she imitated in a squeaky voice, folding her hands and pretending to be a damsel in distress. "I was _soooo_ worried about you! You had to talk to that short girl I'm oh-so-jealous of!"

Sokka laughed. It was strange, for he hadn't laughed in a long time, and there he was, laughing like an insane maniac with someone he didn't know. Eventually the girl was laughing too, and Sokka was clutching at his sides to try and make himself stop laughing. "Okay. . . ." he tried to speak coherently. "She's not that bad! She's. . . ." With no proper defense, he waved his hand in mock defeat. "Okay, well kinda like that." The girl decided to pretend to be the damsel in distress again, and he was laughing harder than ever.

When their happy feelings died down, Sokka grinned at her in a new light, still with the views that she could be a prospective friend, but there was something else he couldn't quite place his finger on. "She's really not that bad, though."

"Keep dreaming, Sokka," she muttered, swinging her arm and punching him hard and square on the shoulder. For some reason unknown to her, hearing him laugh with her made some of her icy exterior melt.

"Ow!" he rubbed his shoulder delicately. "How do you know my name?"

"Hello? Your wife used it a million times back there?" she smirked at his discomfort.

"Sokka?" a voice called out, echoing through the hallway that the two were in. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Footsteps padded louder and louder.

"At least let me know your name," Sokka turned to her, suddenly serious.

"I. . . I. . . ." She wasn't going to give him her name. That would make her easier to track down in the New Kingdom.

"Sokka?"

"Please."

"Toph," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Now that he knew who she was, she wasn't planning on ever seeing him again. That would ruin her scam plans for the future.

"Toph," he smiled. "It has a nice ring to it."

"Sokka?" Suki called out. "Where are you?"

Sokka looked back down the hallway quickly, then turned to face the girl again. His face was so close to hers she could feel his breath on her face. She felt weak. "Tomorrow, meet me at the stairs in the parlor."

"What?" Toph asked, confused. Meet her again? What was he thinking?

"Sokka!"

"You heard," he told her, turning back to run to his fiancée. "Never mind, Suki! I didn't drop anything after all!"

Toph stared after him with a look that seemed to say she'd been slapped, and though it was far from it, the effect was still the same.

* * *

**Wow, that was a lot. Now you see why I couldn't put it all together with that last chapter? This one has over five thousand words. And there's no place for me to split it! XD Anyway, I know that I'm late in delivery for this chapter, but it was so hard to get the railing scene right. It's still not how I pictured it, but I rewrote it enough to claim it is. Besides, it's kinda IC, right? -silence- I know. I was gonna rewrite it again, but I knew it wasn't gonna turn out like this, so I'm leaving it. If I ever do rewrite it (which I most likely won't, 'cuz this was a hell to work with and write), I'll let you know. **

**The next chapter's gonna be sweet, to me anyway. I can't wait!**

**Eh, you know the drill.**

**-Sophia**


	5. In Which The Woman is Stood Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

**Suki is really OOC because I didn't want to make an original character for this story.**

* * *

When he was awoken abruptly by Suki the next morning, the first questions that popped into Sokka's head were whether or not the previous night's encounters between him and the girl—Toph—had really taken place. Was it all a dream? He hadn't really met a girl, had he? Did he really made plans to meet her again? He had to bite the side of his mouth to keep the questions from flowing out of his lips. Suki would kill him. Twice.

"Sokka," she whispered hurriedly, shaking his shoulders. "Sokka!"

He groaned loudly and shook his arms free from her gloved hands, rolling onto his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut. He had been having a wonderful dream. . . He and Suki weren't engaged, his mother was alive, his father wasn't killed for being in debt, and he was free to do whatever the hell he pleased. _Come back, dream, come back!_ He mentally pleaded with his brain, hoping for something, anything, to cause himself to fall back into a sweet slumber.

"Sokka, get up _now_!" the woman shrieked, her voice almost hysterical.

There was no way that Suki was in trouble. They were on a huge ship full of thousands of people that had been checked by guards with extreme issues and they were in the middle of the biggest ocean of the world. But her voice was driving him to insanity. Finally admitting to himself that falling back asleep was an impossibility, he turned his body over to face her. "What?" he asked slowly, his voice drenched with sleep and fatigue.

Smiling as if nothing had happened and as she recomposed herself, she brushed off some invisible dust from her skirt. "Oh, I just needed you to be awake."

"Are you kidding me?" Sokka sat up, rubbing his eyes before staring at her disbelievingly. "You woke me up for _that_?"

She laughed, and her voice was pure sugar. "No, silly. But it's around lunch time, and I figured you'd want to be up."

"Ugh!" he muttered, plopping back down into the pillows and closing his eyes. He wanted the dream to recreate itself. "I don't." His voice was muffled by the cloth, and Suki sighed and shook her head, leaning over to try and 'awaken' him again.

--

There was a problem with Sokka's logic, Toph decided when she got up and out of bed. He hadn't been very specific with when he wanted to meet her, or where he wanted to meet her. Sure, he had said 'the stairs'. But which stairs? Had he failed to realize that there was more than one set of stairs on the entire ship?

Hopping out of bed as quietly and quickly, as stealthily as possible to keep from awakening her two roommates—For who would want to put up with their endless questions about the Fire Nation's Zuko and Iroh?—, she left the room. The door creaked loudly, no doubt because it was not oiled for the third class, and she was free from their wrath of aggravation for another day.

Slightly happier, she started toward their eating area for some food. At the same time, she began to contemplate on whether or not she was to wait at the stairs all day for the man, Sokka. Would it make her seem too eager? What if she was at the wrong stairs? So many unanswered questions began to pop into her head at random, making her realize how stupid it was of her to even think about meeting the man. There were too little details at their previous meeting. How was she to know whether he was a good man?

"Never mind," she told herself out loud, shaking her head as she grabbed a plate and grabbed some of the alloted foods to pile for her own satisfaction. She would decide over her meal, and hopefully make the right choice.

--

The woman fingered the ribbon around her neck without ease, letting her hands find the pendant she was searching for and then running her fingers over the intricate design, the smooth emerald with engraved words and pictures. "Now, I don't question your fidelity, but I do wonder," she started up at last, "Sokka, do you really love me?"

The question caught him off-guard, as he had been plenty distracted. He was going to meet Toph by the parlor during the evening, after dinner, and he was thinking of topics to discuss. He could already picture her reactions to his questions, and could see her laughing. . . A beautiful sound. . . "What?" His eyes were slightly larger than normal, and his arms were hanging limply at his sides at her question.

"I. . . I want to know if you love me," she repeated, her tone strong.

"We've talked about this many times before. I thought you'd know the answer," Sokka replied slowly, careful to keep to the truth. He didn't know why he was suddenly in the mood of being a truthful person, but he supposed it had something to do with his encounter with Toph.

"I know we've discussed this before, but. . . I mean, really, Sokka, you were out with another girl last night!" She couldn't remain calm anymore, and streaks of hysteria found their way into her voice. "And the girl was from third class! What the hell were you doing with scum like that?"

He frowned. "Suki, I thought that you understood from yesterday that we just—"

"Just what? I'm not stupid, Sokka, I know that she was just covering for you. And that's what lovers do, isn't it? Lie for each other and then plan a secret meeting behind my back."

Trying not to show even the slightest sign of worry or that what she was saying might be true, he protested, "Suki, that's not—"

"Don't contradict me, you know it's true!" she shrieked, arms flailing. "Don't even look at her again, you hear me? That little—"

The door swung open and Katara walked in, Aang undoubtedly following her like a stray puppy.

"We're still eating dinner together, right?" she asked, staring directly at Sokka. It was almost as if she knew what had happened the night before.

"Umm. . . Yes?" His reply wasn't even an answer, it was more of a 'what you want to hear' sort of phrase.

Aang grinned, "Great! It won't be like yesterday, will it? I want to actually eat this time!"

Of course he would oh-so-innocently bring up the discussion from the previous night. Sokka sighed and watched as Suki prepared to shout.

"Let's go, Aang," Katara instructed before Suki could interrupt. "We need to wear something different for tonight."

"Sure, Katara!" he chirped, mimicking her movements and leaving the room.

As soon as the couple disappeared from their room, Suki turned to face her fiancée again, her eyes shooting daggers, "Don't mess up dinner. And I repeat, if I ever see that little girl again, _especially_ with you, I will personally make sure that she is eliminated."

"Suki, she and I didn't _do_ anything!" he defended himself, though he didn't believe that Suki would ever send anyone to hurt another person. Sighing in defeat, he closed his eyes and prepared to lie yet again. "I love you!" Sokka proclaimed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Suki sighed sardonically, "Sure." She turned away. "Just stay away from her, okay? For me?"

_No, no, no!_ "Anything, for you," he told her with a lopsided grin, one that hid his anger and pain suitably.

She smiled, her angry exterior fading as she turned back to face him. "Thank you. Now," she clasped her hands together. "Let's choose something to wear for tonight."

"Okay. . . ." Sokka agreed, following her as she bode her way toward the dresser. His mind was racing. Would he still go to meet Toph? Was he willing to risk the new girl's life as well as his father's?

Suki pulled out two dresses that were almost identical other than the waist line, and, holding them up to herself, asked, "This one or this one?"

--

After much contemplation, Toph decided that she would not stand him up. Sokka hadn't done much to deserve her cruelty, other than annoying the hell out of her, and she intended to get to know him better. He would be a good friend, hopefully.

Besides, she needed something to do while she was traveling. Motion sickness and sea sickness didn't seem like thrilling prospects.

So, with a set look on her face that would make it seem like she knew where she was planning on going, she started toward the main parlor with the front stairs.

Hopefully he wouldn't keep her waiting.

Toph Bei Fong did _not_ wait.

--

Sokka sat as patiently as he could at the table, his face resting in the palm of his hand as he stared blankly at the empty plates being collected by the waiter. Suki was chatting animatedly with Katara about something, and Aang was calming down a fight between two random people a couple of tables away.

His mind kept wandering over to Toph. Was she tired of waiting for him? Had she already left? Would she wait? Rather than dwell on his tardiness, he began to picture their conversation. She would laugh a lot, he would crack some sarcastic jokes, she would smile and compliment him. . . Okay, maybe it was a little out of character for her to do that, but it was fun to imagine.

"What time is it?" he asked, turning to Suki.

She paused her conversation with Katara to answer, "I think around eight or something. Why?" She was suddenly very aware of everything, and her eyes widened as though she could read his mind.

"No reason," Sokka sighed. He had to tell her that he wanted to leave. Toph, based on her attitude the day before, was a very impatient person. "I have to do something really quickly, Suki. I'll meet you in our room later." He stood up, letting out a breath of relief as he started to leave.

"Wait!" Suki hitched up her skirts and caught up with him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out," he answered curtly, not in the mood of her interrogations.

"Where?" she questioned slowly, dragging out the word.

"I don't know! On a walk!" He threw his arms up in the air as if it were proving a point.

"But to where?" she asked.

Sokka remained silent.

"You're not meeting up with that girl again, are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"No," he lied, though there was really no need to.

As if she could see right through him, she began lecturing him. "I already told you what would happen if—"

Frustrated, he sprinted out of the room as fast as he could. "I'll tell you in our room later!" he called out to her.

"Dammit!" Suki screamed, knowing she couldn't catch up with him. Especially not in the shoes she was wearing. She waved a hand at someone and retreated back to the table, her poise returning.

--

After running for what felt like forever but in actuality was only a few minutes, Sokka finally made it to the parlor. Shining gold marble met his eyes, the light from the hanging candles illuminating the room even further. People were crowded around the area in their fancy clothes, idle chatter filling the air and the sound of skirts and dress pants brushing against that of other people. A grand double staircase was the main attraction, and even that was covered by people, all from first class.

He walked around with wide eyes as if it was his first time seeing it, which it was, and tried to locate Toph from the rest of the crowd. He had figured it would be easy, seeing as she would be the only one not in dress clothes, but now that he thought about it, her height would make it harder to differentiate from the people. Not that he had a problem with her height or anything. It made her so. . . special and unique.

"Hey!" a voice called out.

Excited, Sokka spun around, smiling and ready to talk. "He-ey. . . ." His voice drowned down when he looked at the girl who had called him; she was clad in bright pink and had a chestnut-brown braid swinging from her head. And her grin was too large for her face. Sighing, he craned his neck to look over the heads of the other people.

"You look so cute when you do that!" she squealed, jumping ahead of him. He frowned as she smiled. "I'm Ty Lee." She extended a hand, her eyes shining as she did so.

"Sokka," he greeted curtly, nodding his head rather than shaking her hand.

"Well, _Sokka_," she giggled, pulling back her hand as though he had actually shaken it, "I have a feeling that you and I are going to be great friends."

"Yeah. . . ." he muttered, still trying to get past her. He obviously did not have time to talk to her. Why could she not get the point? "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm looking for someone else."

"Oh," her face was sad for a moment, but quickly perked up again. "I can help you find whoever it is!"

"Sure. . . ." His voice was sardonic and disbelieving.

"Oh, come on. Please?" she looked at him with wide eyes and a pouty mouth, and Sokka had the feeling that she was never going to leave him alone.

"Fine," he gave in, ignoring the victorious look on her face as best he could. "I'm looking for a small girl with black hair. She's wearing all green."

"Ooh! This'll be fun," she squinted her eyes and looked around. After a moment, it looked like she had an epiphany. "Oh, wait, is this girl from third class?" she asked loudly.

A nearby couple turned to look at him, their faces scrunched up with an unreadable expression. So much for not being conspicuous. "Maybe. Why?"

She laughed, "Oh, because there was a short girl with really messed up hair that left about ten minutes ago. She looked pretty angry."

_Damn_. "Eh, that's not her," he brushed it off as though she was nothing and as though he had no idea who she was. "But I just remembered, I have to go see my fiancée about something." Sokka turned toward the stairs that would lead to the lower levels of the boat.

"Okay!" the girl called out knowingly. "The girl you're looking for went toward the left!" She waved her arms in the direction she meant before skipping off to her suite.

Sighing and waving his arm in thanks, he started down the stairs. He should have left dinner earlier. At least then he wouldn't be in this predicament.

--

She should _not_ have gone to meet him. And she should have known better too. He was a rich man. He had no interest talking to her, a girl from the poorer side of the ship. Ha! If he only knew who she really was.

But no, she just _had_ to talk to him. Her dignity was down the tube. She was so stupid!

Angry at both herself and him, she leaned against the wall in front of her room and crossed her arms. Her long bangs covered her face, keeping her void of emotion. She spit across the hall.

"Hey!" a man cried out, obviously disgusted with her spitting display. But his voice. . . it was so familiar. It couldn't be. . . "Toph!"

_Dammit_, she thought bitterly, plotting a form of revenge. _He's here_.

--

"Toph!" Sokka called out, relief in his voice as he sprinted up to her. "Toph!"

She growled as she extended her arm as quickly as he had run up to her, a balled up fist meeting his stomach in one swift movement.

So, in a few words, she punched him.

"Oww!" he howled, doubling over in pain. Indignantly, she stepped aside to let him kneel toward the ground, leaving his sight in a huff.

He could tell that she was angry. Well, maybe that was a bit of an understatement. She was furious. He should not have been so late, he decided as he clutched his stomach, squeezing his eyes shut as the pain swallowed him over. Squinting a little, he could see her walk into the room straight across from where he was kneeling.

He smiled sadly, at least a small bit relieved to know where she was, and where she most likely roomed, and stood up with his remaining energy. Knocking on the door, he leaned his head to it to hear what was happening on the other side.

"Where is Iroh?" a masculine voice asked.

"Yes, where is he?" another one mimicked.

His face fell knowing that there were two strange men in the same room as she was, though he was not exactly sure as to why he was so downcast about it. Brushing it off as protectiveness and hiding the questions of "Why?", he leaned in closer to the door.

"Shut the hell up!" Toph's voice rang throughout the hallway, even if it was coming from that one room.

"Toph?" Sokka shouted, knocking on the door once more.

There was a small silence. . . And then. . . "Where is Zuko?" echoed past the door, a screech of, "Dammit!" flying through the halls not long afterward.

Again, a silence.

Finally, the door swung open, and Toph left the room, an angry expression set upon her features. She was scowling, her arms crossed, her bangs over her eyes, and her stance murderous. Though he did not want to be the one to cross her path, he smiled a little, glad to know that she had come out to see him.

As if reading his mind, the girl muttered, "I didn't come out for you. Those two roomies over there just beat you in annoying me."

"Well, thanks, I guess," Sokka answered, his hand still clutching his stomach as it grumbled. He had no hard time believing that she was capable of hitting so hard, but it was just a strange thing to see when she was so small.

She snorted, turning away, "Whatever."

"Look, I'm sorry I was late!" he protested, noting the way she was looking at him with an evil look on her face. He had to get her to forgive him before Suki would freak out and send people after him. "I was really busy." She grimaced and started in the opposite direction. _Damn, that was _not_ the right thing to say. Now she probably thinks she's not as important._ "Toph! Wait!"

But she was already walking away.

"Argh!" he wanted to curse, but knew that it would be improper to do so in public and in the lower-class area. So, despite all the pain he was in and the trouble he was going to be in, all because of her, he ran after her.

* * *

**Whew, that's done. Yet another filler for you that had to be up before Friday. I'm hoping to get to the next chapter, which won't be a filler anymore. Then, from there, other than the occasional added 'unnecessary' sort of thing, everything is going to be pure Tokka-fluffy-sweet-goodness! XD**

**And, I've come up with two story plots that may or may not become Tokka stories. We'll just have to see how time plays out. **

**-insert normal message I usually say here-**

**-Sophia**


	6. In Which The Two Converse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters nor do I own the Titanic and its storyline.**

**Summary: AU. Tokka. Based loosely off the Titanic. On the maiden voyage of the _Avatar_, two very different people fall in love. But society as well as luck is against them as they try to cope with it all. **

**Suki is _really_ OOC because I didn't want to make an original character for this story.**

* * *

He pressed himself hard against the walls of the ship, his body flattened so he was camouflaged from the blossoming couple. His eyes narrowed into thin slits as he squinted to get a better view, mentally noting to tell his master that the two were barely inches apart. She would be thrilled. The watched man's hand was on the shoulder of the watched woman's, and they appeared to be in a fierce debate that was slowly but surely dying.

Smirking, he prepared a set of lies to feed his boss. The watched had been so close to kissing, the watched had mentioned running away together, the watched had plotted against her! Oh, wouldn't the leader be pleased with him. And oh-so-very angry with the watched man. The perfect revenge.

The spy cackled to himself, then peeled away from the wall to follow the two to the deck of the ship again.

--

His hand clutched at her shoulder as he stumbled toward her in one swift movement. "Toph, listen to me!" Sokka protested to her back, for she remained firmly rooted to the ground. "Come on!"

She spun around to face him so quickly he thought that he was going to be punched in the stomach again. "What?" Her voice was hard and cold. There was no 'masked hurt' or 'hidden tears' he could normally find in Suki. No. She was dead serious.

"I. . . You. . . ." he shook his head, not sure how to phrase what he was going to say. Hell, he wasn't even sure what he was going to say. Finally, he settled on an "Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm always like this to the people who lie to me," she growled, tone sardonic as she shook free from his grasp.

Sokka gave a soft, innocent smile that went unnoticed by her. Or, if it had been noticed, she gave no implication of its existence. "I noticed that sarcasm, little lady,"—Toph smiled a little at this—"and I'm sorry about that, but. . . You know how hard it was for me to get here? I had to eat dinner with Suki and then run from the top to the stairs, where I couldn't find you and—"

A snort escaped Toph, "Really? I'm _so_ sorry, maybe next time I should consider that you had dinner to get to." She leaned her face forward, standing on tiptoe so that she was face-to-face with him. He opened his mouth to say something else, but she interrupted him, her finger prodding into his chest as she instructed, "When I agreed to meet you, that means that _you're_ supposed to be there _too_. On time," she added.

He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned his innocent smile again. From the times he had watched Aang, it had worked wonders with Katara when she was in her fierce rifts. "Sorry, Toph. Can I make it up to you? We can pretend this never happened and just go onto the deck and talk."

"Really?" her voice was jovial and excited. He seemed relieved and nodded quickly. After a moment, her fist whacked against his arm, a frown on her face. "Really."

"Come _on_, Toph! You can't hold a grudge forever!" Sokka muttered, cautiously rubbing his now sore arm. Pain was spiraling through his body and he couldn't help but wonder if he really wanted to befriend her—

"Oh, I'm not holding a grudge," she said slowly, "I'm simply. . . _Reminding_ you of your mistake."

—which he did. "Spirits, Toph, I think I'll always remember them!" He was referring to the punch to the stomach _and_ slap to the arm. Suki was going to wonder why he had bruises.

She smiled, pleased, a genuine smile on her face for the second time since he had seen her. "Then I guess you've learned your lesson." She straightened up and yawned, making it seem that their argument was stupid and pointless, which it was.

"Thank you!" he sighed, real relief coursing through him. It almost made up for all the pain in his body. Almost. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. "So. . . ."

"So?" She raised an eyebrow, her arms folded under her chest.

"I'm forgiven, right?"

She waved a hand at him like it was nothing, "Mmm."

"And we _can_ talk on the deck like this never happened?" He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting a rejection.

A moment's hesitation. "Sure." A nonchalant shrug followed pursuit, seeing as this was Toph, and she grinned widely.

The strange happiness that radiated off of him at her answer caused her to jump back, grin slipping, surprised. Slightly embarrassed, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs that would lead to the deck. "Let's go."

Her face was set aflame as she was dragged up, though she made no attempt to pull her hand away. They were up on the deck in a matter of minutes. Both rich and poor citizens stared at the unlikely pair and whispers and rumors slowly began to arouse. The footsteps of the two were slow and equal in stride. Time was moving slowly. They made it to the railing of the deck. Foreign feelings bubbled in Sokka's stomach, making him pause for a brief moment. He was still holding her hand. More hushed voices rose as their hands released. The two looked away in opposite directions as blushes stained their cheeks.

"Erm. . . ." he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

She was equally as uncomfortable, "Well. . . ."

"Yeah. . . ."

"So. . . ."

Both waited for the talking behind them ceased, which was not very long due to their lack of movement, and grinned at each other.

It was barely a minute before they were suddenly deep in conversation, chatting about each other, their pasts, their plans for the future. . .

"You mean you can't see _anything_?" Sokka asked incredulously, referring to her eyes. "That's incredible! You walk around the ship like you see better than we do!"

She smirked, "Well I can see, technically. Just not very well. I mean, I can tell that you're in front of me and that we're staring out at the sky."

"But no colors?" It was a slightly random thing to ask compared to blindness, but he was curious.

She shook her head. "Nope."

He leaned against the railing, staring back into the distance. "It must stink. You'll never be able to tell what color the sky is or anything cool like that."

She shrugged, "Not really. I've gotten used to it." She turned to look at the never-ending sky as well. "What do you plan on doing after we leave the _Avatar_?"

Sokka looked down at the ocean, his eyes suddenly downcast and his back hunched over. "Nothing. Something. Everything."

She raised an eyebrow, "Meaning?"

A large sigh caused the air around them to grow tense. "I'm engaged to Suki, remember?" After a moment's silence, it finally clicked in Toph's brain who Suki was, seeing as she had chosen to forget her.

"You love her, then?" Slightly soft, a gentle tone in her voice, she spoke of love as though it was an easy concept. Sure. Like she had ever been through it like he had.

He was taken aback. "What?"

"Do. You. Love. Her. Geez, listen to me the first time, would ya, Snoozles?"

"Snoozles?"

"You were sleeping when I was talking to you," she muttered so he could hear. "Must've been like that, anyway."

A loud laugh escaped his lips, one of the many he seemed to be sharing with Toph. How long had it been since he had some fun and laughs with Suki?

"Anyway, what's your answer? It's an easy question."

The smile dropped again, and he turned away from her. "It's complicated." He hoped that it would be the end of it; after all, he had given enough hints that the subject was uncomfortable and he had no interest or intent on answering her properly.

Of course, though, Toph ignored the signs. "I have time."

--

Her arms were crossed under her chest, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground as she stared at the door with a fierce glare. "What is taking that man _so_ _damn_ _long_?"she shouted to no one in particular.

The man near her bowed deeply, to show her that she was still important to someone.

She sighed warily, though her position never changed. "I don't understand this. Why doesn't he get it?"

"My lady," the man started, "why don't you use my information to your advantage?"

A sad but sure smirk on her face gave it away. "If it comes down to that, then yes, I will. In the meantime, see what else you can find for me. I'm going to wait for him."

"Of course." He dipped his head and exited the room, sneaking back up onto the deck where he was mere minutes previous.

--

It had been hours since they had started talking, and they sure were far from finishing. Both were near each other on a nearby bench, chatting animatedly, excitedly. The sky was now darkened, the stars shining brightly in the sky to illuminate the ships in the water. The lights of the _Avatar_ were dim, and any passerby would mistaken them for a regular couple.

"So that's what she said. And after that—"

"What time is it?" Sokka asked abruptly, canceling out their previous topic.

She frowned, parting her long ebony bangs. Her eyes widened dramatically, "Like I would know."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Embarrassed, he gave her a small, apologizing smile. He had a feeling he would be doing that a lot after that.

"Meh." There was no real indication that it mattered. And it didn't. Well, not to Toph, anyway.

As if he had to explain himself and his actions, he told her, "I have to meet up with Suki before she flips out on me again." He shot up in the air, the sudden force causing Toph to recoil slightly—not that she would ever admit it. "I have to go."

"I noticed," she crossed her arms, sarcastic.

He answered without any enthusiasm, distracted, "Great." He looked around hurriedly, as if he were looking for something, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. How late was he? Had he given her a time for them to regroup?

"You didn't bring anything," she told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sure. You can have it," he muttered, shaking his head. His mind was racing. What would Suki say this time? Would she really suspect him of being with Toph?

Bored and slightly angry, she growled, standing up and turning to leave.

"Toph," he started before she left, attentive all of a sudden.

She hated being treated as someone in second place. Even if it was just for conversation purposes, she refused being treated as the underdog. "What?" she snapped coldly.

"Can I talk to you again tomorrow?" Sokka was almost pleading. It sounded almost as though he would die without her talking.

She pretended to mull it over, "You'll actually be there, right?"

"Yeah. Maybe for lunch this time. I'll let you meet my sister," he decided. Katara and Aang would be sworn to secrecy. They would not tell Suki anything. He would make sure of it.

She was unsure for many reasons. "That's probably not a good idea." She started back toward her section of the ship.

"No, you should. You're my friend, you really should."

She froze in her tracks, as though he said something foreign. "Friend?"

He smiled at her insecurity. She was so confident and tough, but the mention of the word 'friend' seemed to melt her. "Yeah. _Friend_."

She had never had friends before. Her overbearing parents had made sure of it. Slightly shocked, she tried her best to hide it. "Oh. O-Okay, then. I'll be there." _Crap_, she mentally beat her self. She had stuttered. Hopefully Sokka hadn't noticed.

"Okay, meet me in the lunch room at about noon tomorrow," he said with a wink.

They both nodded toward each other as a sign of departure, hiding the small but sure smiles on their faces.

_Yes!_

--

Sokka was in a very good mood when he skipped back to his room, the smile on his face apparent as he seemed to skip down the hallway. The ship rocked steadily, his movements never interrupted by it, and he was so ecstatic about his next planned encounter with Toph, he forgot that he was going to see Suki again.

"You're late," she told him, pacing around the room. Her eyes were set aflame as she glared at him. "Where were you?"

"Out," he said simply, seeing no real reason for him to explain himself. They were not married yet for Spirit's sakes.

"With who?" Suki frowned, her hands on her hips.

He scowled, his happy mood dropping from his face like a dozen stones. "No one."

"Really?" she asked as he nodded. "I don't like it when you lie to me, Sokka."

He protested, "I'm not—"

"Yes you are. I told you I didn't want you to meet her again. Don't." Her voice was pure ice.

"I never met with her, Suki. If you can't trust me. . . ." His voice trailed off.

"I can't if you keep meeting up with her behind my back! I thought you loved me, Sokka!"

Visions of his father flashed through his mind, pictures of Katara, and images of. . . Toph? "I. . . I do. . . ."

"Then act like it, okay?" She lifted her gloved hands to her forehead, massaging her temples as though the whole argument had wiped her out.

"Fine. . . ." he grumbled reluctantly. But he had already made up his mind. Nothing was going to keep him from meeting up with Toph the next morning. Nothing at all.

* * *

**I know, I know, long wait, stupid-ly short chappie. XD But umm. . . it wasn't really that much of a filler this time. And. . . You now have some plot in the story for when you read. . . I know they're out of character, okay? I'm not really good with IC-ness yet.**

**And, not to bug you with my personal life or anything, I went to Six Flags on Thursday! And next Thursday is my mini-cruise! I'm on a roll! XD**

**So, yeah. The usual thing I say goes here.**

**-Sophia**


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